Book Review Superconductors Metals Polymers ElectronicsЕ Introduction to the
Modern Theory of Metals.

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ADVANCED
MATERIALS
Book Reviews
Superconductors,
Metals, Polymers, Electronics.. .
Introduction to the Modern Theory of Metals. By Alan CottreN. The Institute of Metals, London 1988. 260 pp., hard
cover, $73.50, ISBN 0-904357-97-X
My first book review, written in Chicago in 1955, was on
Cortrefl‘s “Theoretical Structural Metallurgy”. At that time
I was impressed by the non-physical argumentation which
Cottrell used in that small book for the explanation ofmetallurgical phenomena, and it is a method I have often made use
of during my career in physical metallurgy. Now, 35 years
and many book reviews later, I have the opportunity to
review the latest offering from Cottrell, another review of the
basics of the metal state which attempts t o incorporate the
modern theories of today’s metallurgists.
The book is intended to bring the post-war work of HumeRofhery and Raynor up to date, work which Cottrell experienced at first hand during a stint as Professor in Birmingham
from 1949 to 1955. Since that time he has worked a t HarweIl
and a t Cambridge, been a government science advisor, and
Master of a college and Vice-Chancellor at the University of
Cambridge. Here, during his retirement, he writes refreshingly OR the electron theory of metals and alloys as if the
intervening years had had no effect whatsoever. Truly a fascinating personality and performance!
The 10 chapters and 13 appendices (which make up more
than one third of the book and contain the necessary mathematics) discuss the following points:
1 . What is the definition of a metal? (Includes a discussion
of the insulator-metal transition and electron delocaiization).
2. Why are electrons ‘free’ (based on shielding and pseudopotentials)?
3. What is the effect of electron correlation?
4. What are the effects of band structure?
5. The cohesion in simple metals and the energies of lattice
defects.
6. The d-shell transition metals and their magnetism.
7. The problems with Cu, Ag, and Au with respect to the
Hume-Rothery rules for alloys.
8. The surface of metals.
9. Superconductors, including the high-T, variety.
The physics of every example is explained well, the mathematical proofs being restricted to a minimum o r confined to
discussion in an appendix. The presentation makes the work
highly readable, complete but concise. The metallurgist with
some background in physics, o r the physical chemist will
gain much from reading the book. It is a masterpiece which
1592
provides an important education in the basic science that is
applicable to many areas of materials science.
Peter Haasen
Institut fur Metallphysik
Universitgt Gottingen
Hospitalstrasse 3/5, D-3400 Gottingen (FRG)
Studies of High Temperature Superconductors. Volume 1 .
Edited by Anant Narlikar. Nova Science Publishers, New
York, 1989. xiv, 381 pp., bound, S 85. -ISBN 0-94174344-3
The discovery of superconductivity in a La-Ba-Cu-0 compound by Bednorz and Miiller triggered a world wide race in
the search for new superconducting materials with still
higher transition temperatures. At the same time an enormous wave of publications was set in motion that continues
today without any sign of diminishing. In order to ensure
rapid publication, new journals mushroomed overnight everywhere, and it was extremely difficult to keep track of
important developments.
Presently, three years after the beginning of high-T, fever,
the first books summarizing the current state of the art in the
field are being published. The book in hand is the first volume of a series entitled Studies of High Temperature Superconductors - Advances in Research and Applications, edited
by Ananf Narlikar from the National Physical Laboratory in
New Dehli, India. The underlying motivation for this series
is the need for a convenient access to important advances in
the field not only for scientists and engineers, but also for
graduate students of physics, chemistry, materials science
and related fields. Hence most of the chapters in each of the
volumes have the character of a review article focusing on
theoretical and experimental aspects of research in the field.
Volume one of this series contains 15 chapters, seven of
which discuss theoretical approaches to high-T, superconductivity. The remaining chapters summarize the processing
of bulk and thin film materials, microstructural effects, elastic properties, and X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS).
C. N. R. Rao from the Indian Institute of Science gives an
overview of the oxygen hole mechanism of superconductivity, including a review of available Auger and XPS data. S . S.
Jha from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in
Bombay reviews the generalized BCS pairing at the weak as
we11 as the strong coupling limit, including a modified theory
for layered crystals. A discussion of possible pairing mechanisms in high-ir, superconductors concludes this article.
Angen. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. Adv. Mater. 28 (1989) No. I !